They Gave Me This Gold, I Threw It into a Fire and Out
Came This Calf

32: 21-24

DIG: What great sin
was Moses angry about? Who did Aaron
blame? Why didn't he take any responsibility? When the people questioned whether Moses would
ever come back down the mountain at all, how did Aaron
respond? Do you think Aaron really thought
Moses would buy his pathetic excuse, or was it merely the
only thing he could think of at the time? Does it seems to you that Aaron
was embarrassed or arrogant? Why?

REFLECT: Have you ever been
deeply hurt by someone you thought you could count on? How did you react? How do
you react when you are caught in a sin? Do
you immediately ask for forgiveness? Do you usually appeal your case on the
spot? Are you broken by your sin like King David (Psalm 51),
or do you just rationalize everything and live with the guilt? Can you live with
the punishment? Can you live without it?

Following the destruction of the idol and the people
drinking its remains, Moses turned to Aaron for an explanation of what had
happened. His brother’s excuses were as desperate as they were lame, and they
did not fool him. Moses said to his brother: What did these people do to you,
that you led them into such great sin (32:21)? This term, a great sin, is used
most often in the TaNaKh, in reference to idolatry. However, it is also
used of adultery (Genesis 20:9 and 39:9). In the ancient Near East it is a legal
term for adultery. When it comes to the worship of God in the TaNaKh,
these two terms, idolatry and adultery are closely related. They are two
different sides of the same coin.674 He couldn’t believe that
Aaron would do
something like that. He had allowed the people to get out of control and become
a potential laughingstock to their enemies.675ADONAIwasangry enough withAaron that He was ready to kill
him(Deuteronomy 9:20). Great
indeed was his sin, but greater still was the mercy that pardoned it.

Just as Moses had successfully soothed God’s wrath, now
Aaron tries to do the same with Moses. “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered, “You
know how prone these people are to evil.” Terrific! Aaron tried to justify his
own guilt by placing the blame on the Israelites. They said to me, “Make us gods
who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt,
we don’t know what has happened to him’” (32:22-23). There was no sign of
repentance, only blaming others. So it was at the beginning. When God charged
Adam with sin he blamed his wife (Genesis 3:12), and when Eve was questioned she
blamed the Serpent! No difference here.

Aarontold them, “Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it
off.” Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came
this calf (32:34). Was it a miracle? Hardly, a few verses earlier we were told
that Aarontook what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape
of a calf (32:4). He merely told a lie. The sad part is that not only was it an
unbelievable excuse, but that he had no idea what he had done. He not only
participated and allowed it to happen, but even when Moses had returned and was
angry he didn’t understand what the problem was. “Honest Moses, this golden
calf
just followed me home!”

It is common in the southern United States for prisoners
to help in the building of prisons. That is ironic, because every brick that
they lay makes them more imprisoned, and every nail they hammer makes their
escape more impossible. In a sense, sin is like that – each sin committed makes
it easier to sin again and again and again. And so it was with Aaron. After
breaking the first two commandments through idolatry, he then compounded it with
lying and violating the ninth commandment. Therefore, his guilt and shame were
all the greater. Is it not so with us?676